Grain-door.



E. B. GILLELAND.

GRAIN DOOR. APPLICATION FILED APR.Z8. 1909.

Patented Aug. 16711910.

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E. B. GILLBLAND.

GRAIN Doon.

AEPLIOATION FILED APB.. 28, 1909.

Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

3 SHEETS-BREST 2.

Witwe/aou E. B. GILLELAND.

GRAIN DOOR.

APPLICATION FILEDAPB. 2s. 1909.

Patented Aug.-16,i 1910.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

EDG-AR B. GILLELAND, OF WICHITA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,T0 THE AUTOMATIC STEEL GRAIN DOOR COMPANY, OF PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA, A

CORPORATION OF SOUTI-I DAKOTA.

GRAIN-D OOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

Application filed April 28, 1909. Serial No. 492,653.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR B. GILLELAND, citizen of the United States,residing at Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in GrainDoors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in graindoors for freight cars, and the primary object of the invention is adoor of this character that may be manufactured at a relatively lowcost, and the parts easily assembled, which will be durable inconstruction and withstand the pressure of the grain, and the hard usageto which doors of this character are subjected, and which at the sametime will be light and easy to handle.

With these and other objects in View as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafterfully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an outside face view of a grain door constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional View, the door being shown in closed position in full lines,and in folded and raised position in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view on an enlarged scale of the relief door or panel; Fig.4 is a similar view of the upper section of the main door; Fig. 5 is ahorizontal sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the lower section of the main door; Fig. 7 is apartial sectional and top plan view, the section being takenapproximately on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1; and, Fig..8 is a sectionalperspective View of the lower corner of the main door, illustratingdetails which will be hereinafter specifically described.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingsby the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings the reference letter A designates my improvedgrain door which is preferably constructed in upper and lower sections 1and 2 both of which are formed of relatively light sheet steel orsimilar metal, the section 1 being relatively smaller as shown and thetwo sections being hinged together, along their horizontally disposedabutting edges by partially countersunk hinge members 3, the lowersection 2 being thereby arranged to be swung inwardly and upwardly so asto be folded upon the upper section 1.

In the present embodiment of the invention the upper section 1 of thedoor is provided near its upper corners with brackets 4 that aredesigned to receive vertically eX- tending rods 5, the lower ends ofsaid rods 5 being connected together by a cross rod to form asubstantially U-shaped frame, and the upper ends of the rods 5 beingpivotally connected to staples 7 that are bolted or otherwise secured tothe top cross beam 8 of the door frame or casing. It is to be noted thatthe straps or brackets 4 are of an interior length greater than thediameter of the rods 5 so as to permit of a sidewise movement of thedoor in the direction in the length thereof, for a purpose that will behereinafter pointed out.

As above stated, one of the objects of my invention is to produce a doorwhich will be strong and yet light. To this end, both sections of thedoor are formed with longitudinally extending corrugations 9, the lowersection 2 is provided with battens 10 preferably of angle-iron or steelriveted thereto, the side edges of both sections are curled uponthemselves as indicated at 11, and the upper and lower edges of bothsections are trussed as indicated at 12, the truss formation beingformed of a plurality of major portion of the'stress is directly imposedupon the .side edgesof the. door beyond the vertical stiles or jambs.

Y 15 designates the relief door or panel. This is also preferablyconstructed of sheet Steel having a portion bent inwardly at its upperedge as indicated at 16 to form a handle by which it may be pried open.VThe side edges of the panel 15 are bent laterally as indicated at 17 toform flanges which .fit within preferably angle-metal flanges 18 rivetedto the two middle battens so as to formdoor guides or channels as bestillustrated ,in Fig. 5. The lower edge of the relief panel is bentinwardly and downwardly as indicated at 18 so as to fit closely Y' overthe returned lower edge of the lower section 2, this constructionpreventing any leakage of thegrain at* this point, and being adapted to,engage with the upper edge of the relief opening so as to retain the re-,lifef panel or door within its guides or channels and to prevent thepanel from being lifted entirely out when opening the same to permit theunloading of the grain..

In order to holdthe door in a raised or inoperative position, I have, inthe present embodiment of my invention, turned the upper ends of therods 5 outwardly, where they engage the staples 7, thence down- Kwardly, inwardly and upwardly to form tion illustrated two upwardlyfacing hooks; and I have cut out the returned lower edge of the lowerdoor section 2 near the corners thereof as indicated at 20 so as to formopenings to receive the hooks-.19` so that the latter may engage ianges21 constituted by the remaining portions of the returned lower edge. If

desired, the metal defining the sides of the openings 20 may be-entirelysheared off or bent inwardly or outwardly and riveted as indicated at22.

p It will be understood that in the operation of opening the door, thelower section, 2 is moved inwardly and upwardly so as to fold upon theupper section 1, the latter moving downwardly on the rods 5 in thismovement until the straps or brackets 4 engage with the connecting rod 6at the lower ends of the rods 5. When the lower section 2 has beenfolded up against the upper section 1, the door may be raised iirst atone corner and then at the neXt so as to cause the flanges 21 to engageover the hooks 19 and hold the two sections securely vfolded one p uponthe other, and the entire door is then swung inwardly and upwardly tothe posiin dotted lines in Fig. 2, the door being slid along the rods 5and the cross rod 6 being engaged with a carline r hook 23. By theprovision of the relatively large retaining straps or brackets 4, thedoor may be slightly tilted to effect the engagement of the flanges 22with the suspension hooks 19, thereby avoiding the il'cessity of theoperator lifting the entire weight of the door at one time. l .I

From the foregoing descriptionl in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it is manifest that I have provided a very simple, durable andeflicient construction of grain door which can be easily applied to acar of any height, either common, standard, or special, without thenecessity of any changes in the construction of the car itself or of thedoor.

Preferably the lower section 2 of the main door is provided with a strip24 secured thereto by counter-sunk rivets at the upper edge of t-herelief opening so as to prevent the leakage of grain at this point.

Having thus described the what is claimed as new is:

1. In a grain door, suspension rods, supports with which said rods areconnected for a laterally swinging movement, a door constructed in upperand lower sections hinged together at their meeting edges, the uppersection being slidably mounted upon said rods, means for connecting thelower section of the door to said rods with such section folded upon theupper section, and means for holding said rods and the door in foldedcondition in an elevated positiony underneath the roof of a car.

2. In a grain door, suspension rods, supports with which said rods areconnected at one end and on which they are arranged to swing laterally,a door constructed in upper and lower sections, the upper section havinga sliding connection with the rods, and the lower section being hinfedto the upper section, the lower section being provided at its lower edgewith anges, and the rods being provided at their upper ends withupwardly facing hooks designed to engage said flanges.

3. A grain door,

invention,

comprising suspension from each other and thence downwardly and inwardlyand upwardly to form upwardly facing hooks, supports with which suchends are plvotally connected for a lateral swinging movement of therods, a connecting rod connecting the rst named rods at one end of thelatter, a door embodying an upper section, brackets secured to saidupper section and extending over said first named rods and of aninterior length greater. than the diameter of said rods, and a lowersection hinged to the upper section and provided at its lower edge withflanges designed to engage said hooks.

4. A grain door having its lower edge returned upon itself to form asupport, the returned portions being partially cut away to formopenings, leaving a portion remaining to form lianges defining a wall ofsaid openings, suspension rods for holding said door in an elevatedposition, and brackets secured to the door and having a Vertical slidingconnection with the rods, the rods being provided with hooks to engagesaid flanges and the door being constructed in upper and lower sectionshingedly connected together, the flanges being formed on the lowersection and the brackets being se-

